Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1887-06-03
Interview With Gen. Averlll

Reported for the STAUNTON VINDIcAToR]
AS General Averill, ''the gentlemanly
raider" is SO soon to be an honored and
welcome guest of our city, it may not be
uninteresting to your readers to have a
brief account of an interview the writer
had with him not long since in Washing
ton.
was introduced to Gen. Averill in the
office of a friend, a former citizen of Staun-
ton. After few minutes conversation l
asked him, Are you the Averill who used
to worry US SO during the war, raiding
through our lines and breaking up cur
railroads ?"
Eyes sir, suppose so,'' he said; 81 did
engage in that business in those days and
| rather enjoyed it,
well then, said the writer, General,
want you to Satisfy me about one of
your night exploits that has been mys-
| terry to me for twenty years"
Gen. A.-Well Sir, what is it ?
| Reporter GU recollect when in the
| winter of 1868 we had you hemmed in at
Newcastle, Craig county. Early and F1tz
+ Lee were on the two roads in your rear
and our command. Echols' brigade and
some cavalry, were in your front occupy
| ing the road over the Sweet Springs noun.
tain. We laid for you there on that bleak
| mountain top all night, the bitterest
weather 1 ever felt and in the morning
| half-frozen and frost-bitten our cavalry
scouts came in and reported that you had
slipped out by mountain path and gotten
away safe with nearly all of your COM
nand. How did you find your way cut,
General, that dark. freezing night ?
Gen. A.-Oh! 1 recollect it all perfectly
and Ell tell you how we got away from you.
Early that night rode into New Castle
on my return from the Virginia and Ten
| nessee Railroad with about 2 900 mounted
men, all hungry. cold and jaded. | went
| to the hotel in the village and sat down by
| a fire in the office to Warm and think over
| the situation. 1 knew you fellows had
| surrounded me and that unless 1 could
get away that night in the darkness, l
would have to fight the next day with
| heavy odds against NE or surrender. All
at once it occurred to me that a country
doctor ought to know those mountain
paths, and l inquired if there was prac-
| ticing physician liz New Castle, and was
| told that there was one, a DR.. Wylie.-
| This DR.. Wylie was no relation of the
| old Craig family of Wileys of which one,
| DR.. Oscar Wiley, was valuable and trus-
ted surgeon in the Confederate army.
and another is located at Clifton Forge
J REP l sent for him Immediately. He
soon presented himself, a red-headed, saag-
gy bearded, rough-looking fellow. Not
J intending him to know my object then,
l entered into conversation on indiffer-
emit subjects and finally asked him how he
could make living, practicing medicine
| in that little mountain village? He bit
! nicely. Oh, said he, my practice is not
confined to the town, | ride all over this
country. But said 1, how can you get
about in these mountains such a night as
this? Oh, I can find my way anywhere
| the darkest night that ever came ''Then
DOCTOR" said, (throwing off all disguise)
you've got to lead my command out of
| this tonight and take us to the bridge
across Jacksons River below Covington :"
| The DR.. said that thing was out of the
| question; that if he helped us to get away
from the Confeds. tie people there would
mob him or quit him and starve him to
death, and declared very positively he